Environment minister Tony Burke with former prime minister Bob Hawke and traditional owner Jeffrey Lee (centre) and Stewart Gangali in Parliament House. Koongarra has been included into Kakadu National Park. Photo: Andrew Meares

Despite being offered millions of dollars by a French company interested in mining the area for uranium, Mr Lee has been fighting to protect the land that lies in the shadow of Nourlangie Rock, one of Kakadu's most visited areas.

According to Aboriginal beliefs, the land includes places where the Rainbow Serpent entered the ground and a giant blue tongue lizard still lurks. The area also has rock art dating back thousands of years.

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Mr Lee is the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land that includes the 12.5 square kilometre Koongarra project area. He would be one of Australia's richest people if he allowed the mine to go ahead.

Environment Minister Tony Burke said that Koongarra would soon be formally made part of Kakadu National Park.

Former prime minister Bob Hawke was also at Parliament House to see the bill introduced.

In 1991, his government protected Kakadu's Coronation Hill site from uranium mining.

He called Mr Lee one of the ''great Australians'' for deciding to protect Koongarra, rather than take the money.

Mr Hawke said Kakadu had been very important to him and remembered the cabinet discussion about Coronation Hill as ''one of the most bitter'' of his prime ministership.

He said he got annoyed when some of his ministers were sceptical about the religious and spiritual significance of the area. ''I just blew up, I said 'bugger me'. I said, 'You have no difficulty embracing the concept of the Holy Trinity, the virgin birth . . . the important thing is that . . . all of us respect the deeply held beliefs of others.''

Mr Hawke remembered that despite the bitterness, he won the day.

''I didn't have the numbers but I had the authority so we got the right decision,'' he said, conceding that it did damage his levels of support.

The bill was part of the Labor government's election commitments in 2010.

Mr Burke said protecting Koongarra was of national and international significance: ''Throughout its history, the Kakadu National Park, it has had a hole in its heart.''